Ramon Fernandez supports Kai Sotto's move to train abroad

Before he was Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) commissioner, Ramon Fernandez was himself a top big man in the highest levels of Philippine basketball.

And the former player shared his agreement with Filipino teen prospect Kai Sotto's decision to undergo his training abroad.

"For me, it was right that he went to the States to train and all that," Fernandez said in a mix of Filipino and English in a virtual forum of the Philippine Sportswriters Association on Tuesday.

While Fernandez added that he has not really followed the sport that much since his retirement from professional basketball in 1994, he said the 18-year old should look for the best opportunity where he can develop his skills.

"He should look for the highest level of competition abroad and he can only find that in the States or even Europe, especially now that he's growing in years," added Fernandez.

Sotto is currently training in the United States in pursuit of his NBA dream.

He was supposed to play for NBA G League Ignite team last February, but he missed the start of the condensed G League season to return to the Philippines and train for the final window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. However, the tournament was cancelled due to travel restrictions.

Sotto flew back to the US before he and Ignite came to the mutual decision for the former not to re-join Ignite in the G League bubble because of health protocols and travel restrictions.

Fernandez shared that he, too, would have wanted to train abroad when he was Kai's age, but destiny had other plans for the man who would come to be known as 'El Presidente.'

Fernandez, in his prime, was a dominant force in Philippine basketball. He won four Most Valuable Player awards in the Philippine Basketball Association. He also represented the country in the 1974 FIBA World Championship and was part of the team that won gold in the 1973 FIBA Asia Championship held in Manila. —Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA News